FREE ESSAY ON THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN MAFIA

THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN MAFIA

OMERTA?
THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN MAFIA
Throughout history, crime has existed in many different forms and has been committed by
not only individuals, but by groups as well. Crime is something that knows no boundaries;
it exists in all cultures, is committed by all races, and has existed in all time
periods. Crime exists as a part of the economic institution and is a lifestyle for many
people. Crime also exists in both organized and un organized forms. Since the early
1900's, organized crime has existed in the United States. The following will show where,
when, and why the Mafia came to the United States, who organized it in the United States,
and how it differed from its origins in the European mafia. By showing this you will see
how this specific type of organized crime has 
In the ninth century, Arab forces occupied Sicily. The native Sicilians were oppressed
and took refuge in the surrounding hills. The Sicilians formed a secret society to unite
the natives against the Arab and Norman invaders. This secret society was called Mafia
after the Arabic word for refuge. The society's intentions were to create a sense of
family based on ancestry and Sicilian heritage. In the 1700's, pictures of a black hand
were distributed to the wealthy. This was an unspoken request for an amount of money in
return for protection. If the money was not paid, the recipients could expect violence
such as kidnappings, bombings, and murder. By the nineteenth century, this society grew
larger and more criminally oriented. In 1876, Mafia Don Rafael Palizzolo, ran for
political office in Sicily. He forced the voters to vote for him under gunpoint. After
being elected into office, he promoted Mafia Don Crispi as Prime Minister. Together the
two put Sicily under government control and funneled government funds to the society
known as the Mafia. 
In the 1800's, New Orleans was the largest Mafia site in the United States. It was while
investigating the murder of an Italian immigrant that the current Police Chief, David
Hennessey discovered the existence of this secret society. Police Chief Hennessey was
assassinated before this murder case could go to trial. Twelve men were charged with this
assassination but were lynched by a newly formed vigilante group. The Italian Ambassador
demanded that the vigilantes be tried. President Harrison who disproved of the vigilantes
and gave a large cash settlement to the families of the lynched men. This was a widely
publicized case because of its' foreign ramifications and the involvement of the
President of the United States. Don Vito, Vito Cascio Ferro, was the first Sicilian Capo
de Tutti Capi. He fled to the United States in 1901 to escape arrest and formed a group
of the Black Hand. Its' members were hardened criminals currently fugitives from Sicily.
He is known as the Father of the American Mafia. In 1924, Mussolini was determined to rid
Italy of the Mafia so many members fled to the United States to avoid persecution . This
increased the numbers of members in the organization. 
These fleeing Italians were well aware there was money to be made in the United States
through extortion, prostitution, gambling and bootlegging. Every large city soon had its
own Mafia chapter. Prohibition which was a legal ban on the manufacturer and sale of
intoxicating drinks generated a wave of illegal activity since there was big money to be
made. During this time, gangsters openly flaunted their wealth and power. This period
established many young men as leaders in the New Age American Mafia. 
Charles Luciano, born in 1897 in Sicily, came to New York in 1906. He trained in the Five
Points Gang, a Mafia crew, under John Torrio. In this gang, he became friends with Al
Capone and other prominent gangsters. Luciano started his own prostitution racket in the
early 1920's and was in total control of prostitution in Manhattan by 1925. In 1929 he
was kidnapped, beaten and stabbed severally with an icepick. He miraculously survived but
maintained omerta, which is a vow never to reveal any Mafia secrets or members under
penalty of death or torture. By 1935, Luciano was known as The Boss of Bosses. He had
previously established Murder Inc. with Bugsy Siegel and Myer Lansky, two other well
known gangsters. Luciano's wide spread criminal activities led to his being investigated
by District Attorney Thomas E. Dewey. He was eventually sentenced to thirty to fifty
years for extortion and prostitution. Luciano was considered to be a powerful Mafia
member with strong ties to Sicily. After his conviction, the United States government
approached him with a deal. In exchange for his assistance in the Allied invasion of
Sicily, he was offered deportation to Rome. Luciano contacted his Mafia associates in
Italy and the deal was made. Luciano died of a heart attack in 1962 while meeting an
American movie producer to do his life story. 
Myer Lansky was never an initiated member of the Mafia since he was not Italian. Lansky
became a close associate of Luciano after his rise to power and influence among the
Jewish gangsters, known as Myer's mob. His speciality was gambling. He formed Murder Inc.
which was a group of specialized contract killers which was hired out to other mobs.
Lansky was instrumental in working out the deal with the government for Luciano in the
Allied invasion. While Luciano was in jail and later deported to Italy, he entrusted the
running of the crime syndicate to Lansky. By the 1960's, Lansky's gambling operations
extended half way around the globe with departments all over South America and as far as
Hong Kong. In 1970, the federal government was planning to charge Lansky with tax evasion
, so he fled to Israel. In Tel Aviv, the Israeli government under pressure by the U.S.
revoked his visa and Lansky was forced to stand trial. He avoided conviction because of
his high level government contacts and retired to Miami, Florida and died in 1983. At the
time of his death, his estate was valued at 4 million dollars. 
The third member of Murder Inc. was Benjamin (Bugsy) Siegel. He was born in Brooklyn, NY
in 1906. While still a teenager, he met Myer Lansky and went on to form the Bug and Myer
Mob which specialized in gambling and car theft. In the 1930's, this mob joined with
Luciano and formed Murder Inc. Siegel eventually killed Joe. The Boss, Masseria which
ended the present mob wars at that time. Siegel continued to carry out murders for
Luciano and by 1937 there was a large number of contracts out of Siegel's life since he
had angered so many of the bosses. To protect him, Lansky and Luciano persuaded him to
move out to California. In California, Siegel he was the main man in the Luciano and
Lansky gang and extorted money from movie studio owners. He continued to do murders for
Luciano. Siegel  borrowed five million dollars of syndicate money to build the first
super casino/hotel in Las Vegas. The Flamingo hotel turned out to be a fiasco and lost
money. Luciano demanded repayment of the funds and Siegel refused, thinking he was as
powerful as Luciano. Luciano ordered his death. Although Siegel was warned by Lansky of
this plan, he continued to refuse to repay the money. On June 20, 1947 he was killed. 
Dutch Schultz, was another major player in organized crime He opened a saloon in the
Bronx, New York during prohibition and organized a group of thugs to expand his
bootlegging operations. His empire soon grew to large proportions with many illegal
establishments in the Bronx and Manhattan. During his trial for tax evasion, many of his
rackets were taken over by Luciano, who expected Schultz to be convicted. Although this
prompted him to move his operation to New Jersey, Schultz was still considered so
influential Luciano asked him to be a member of the Board of Directors of the crime
syndicate. The District Attorney of New York, Thomas E. Dewey was not finished with
Schultz though and continued investigating his activities. Schultz decided it was in his
best interest to eliminate Dewey but the crime syndicate disagreed. They feared the
killing of a District Attorney would only add to their problems but Schultz would not
drop his plan. On the evening of October 23, 1935, while Schultz was informing his New
Jersey associates of his plan, a Murder Inc. hit man assassinated all of them, Schultz
included. He died later that evening in a Newark City hospital. 
Alphonse Scarface Capone was another organizer of the early American Mafia. He was born
in Brooklyn, New York in 1899. His involvement with organized crime began when he was
eleven years old. As he got older, he graduated to the more powerful Five Pointers Gang
where he became acquainted with Luciano. When Johnny Torrio, the original leader of the
Five Pointers Gang moved to Chicago, he invited Capone to be his sidekick. Torrio's
uncle, Big Jim Colisimo was the crime boss in Chicago. Trouble between uncle and nephew
started and Capone was hired to kill the uncle leaving Torrio in charge of all Chicago.
In 1925 when Torrio was severally wounded in a shoot out, he gave Capone his vast
business empire, valued at fifty million dollars a year. During this time, Capone fell
out of favor with other Mafia gangsters and several attempts were made on his life.
Capone took revenge by staging the infamous St. Valentine's Day massacre in which he
killed several of his enemies ending resistance to his continuing business dealings. He
was finally sentenced for tax evasion and spent most of his eleven-year sentence in
Alcatraz. In 1939 he was released from prison because he was in the advanced stages of
syphilis. He died of this disease in 1947. 
At the turn of the century, the American Mafia was different from the Sicilian Mafia in a
number of ways. The European Mafia was founded on a sense of loyalty and respect for
culture, family and the Sicilian heritage. The Mafia was to protect its' members
interests and grant them freedom in business in exchange for absolute loyalty and
submission to the family. The Sicilian Mafia was based on the belief that justice, honor
and vengeance are for a man to take care of, not for a government to take care of. The
Sicilian Mafia valued the code of omerta , the code of honor and silence and strictly
adhered to the ruling that this was a secret society, open only to those who shared
Sicilian blood. In contrast to the noble Sicilian Mafia, the American Mafia has proved to
be a conniving, cold hearted organization. The American Mafia consists of a large group
of glorified thieves, pickpockets and murderers. Although it began with the adoption of
much of the Sicilian heritage it has evolved into an organization that's sole purpose is
to make money using any illegal means possible. The members of the American Mafia use
extortion, bootlegging, prostitution, gambling, kidnapping, and murder to achieve their
ends. 
The above research has shown that the Mafia has become a wide spread problem. The Mafia
has continued to grow and infest our society from the early 1900's. It continues to
exploit and destroy the honest citizens of our country. Now, these criminal organizations
not only control the adults of our communities but also have begun, through the sale and
distribution of narcotics, to control our children. Crime organizations must be stopped
however this is a difficult task. They have infiltrated members of our government and law
enforcement agencies with the lure of money. Unfortunately, crime does pay in many
instances. It is up to each of us to not look the other way, but be aware that there are
really no victimless crimes. One way or another, we all pay either by higher taxes or by
a more violent society.